If you think he's sexy, come see Rod Stewart Aug. 24

Ticket sales started with a rush at 10 a.m. sharp Friday for Rod Stewart.

At least 40 people were lined up in front of Covelli Centre on Front Street in anticipation of the box-office opening to purchase tickets for the Aug. 24 concert by the British rock legend.

As of 5 p.m., the seating map on the Covelli website showed the least-expensive seats were sold out, but seats remained available in the other price ranges. Tickets for the concert are priced at $59.05, $90.75, $153.15 and $192.60 (prices include Ticketmaster fees).

Shirley Matyi and Diane Sharp, both of Austintown, were the first in line, arriving about 5 a.m. Other people started to show up at 6:30 a.m., Matyi said.

Kelsey Rupert, the center’s marketing director, said sales were brisk all morning. “We definitely had a strong on-sale and have great seats still available,” she said late Friday afternoon. About 5,700 tickets are available for the concert.

Tickets can be purchased at ticketmaster.com, at all Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at 800-745-3000, and at the Covelli box office when it reopens at 10 a.m. Monday.

Matyi and Sharp actually came to the arena at 2 a.m. but discovered that no one else was in line, so they left.

Matyi said she didn’t want to try to buy tickets online or by phone because going to the box office is the only guaranteed way of getting what she wanted.

“You got to go old-school if you want tickets,” she said.

Another reason for Matyi’s method is because of what happened the only other time she was going to go to a Stewart concert.

“A friend and I had tickets to his concert in Cleveland back in either 1970 or ’71, when we were working at Treasure Island [department store on Youngstown’s South Side], and it was canceled for some reason,” she said. “So I am making sure I get to see him this time.”

The Aug. 24 show also will be Sharp’s first Stewart concert.

“I never saw him before, but I’m a fan,” she said. “We’re in that age bracket.”

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